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The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Friday, December 10, 2021

And Just Like That


A reader question:

I started watching the Sex and the City follow-up And Just Like That on HBO Max.  I was a super fan of the original series, even when everyone was criticizing it.  At about ten minutes into the new series, I found it unwatchable.  I bring it up here because the world reminded me a lot of the world described in Lisa Birnbach’s (mis-named) True Prep, the follow-up to The Official Preppy Handbook which she edited, as opposed to wrote.  Everything was over-written, over dressed, over self-conscious, and vulgar.   The reviews of the show have been brutal.  It wasn’t pretending to be WASPY as Ms. Birnbach’s was pretending, but it was just as much a lifestyle cautionary tale about the same kind of people.  Both missed the light touch of their predecessors.  I would be curious what other readers think of the show.    

 

27 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this Amazon review of "True Prep": "I was once marooned for several years in a Southern town dominated by the most nouveau sort of high-tech industry plunked down into a hick-town, and I unfortunately became involved in community theater with the supposedly intelligent out-of-towners who'd been in town way too long and fallen in love with their own wonderfulness. This is that. This book is the handiwork of the sort of people who think they're using Elizabethan English cleverly (commandments for preppies, and so forth) but who can't do so grammatically. Do you like things a bit flashier than in 'The Official Preppy Handbook'?...Are you a...prosperous person who flits from cause to cause, from hobby to hobby? Do you say 'awesome' frequently? If so, this book will make you feel like you are one of THE most clever people in a small place where there isn't much to do except try to be ironic without in fact knowing what 'irony' means. The original book came in the right time and in the right place. Please just let it go. The world does not need one more bad sequel." Silly me, I read the book anyway. I suppose the TV show under discussion is about the same.

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    1. I'm not sure of a connection between that show and Salt Water New England. NOCD. As for Birnbaum she is a poseur. Some truths to it but much of it is presumptuous. Telling the Cabots what the Cabots are " about".

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  2. Watching television comes with certain risks.

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    1. This is my favorite recent comment. I am going to use this phrase.

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    2. It would be best not to encourage me.

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    3. I've given up on American television. I watch tv series from England, Canada, Australia and even New Zealand. Can't forget European and Scandinavian tv series. Totally agree with Blue Train and R. Rafael.

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    4. I would agree. Living where I live, I can only watch European programming and the only anglophone channels I watch with any regularity are UK ones. The only American channels I have kept in my 'favourites' list are PBS America and Smithsonian. And I catch old episodes of Frasier on British TV. Everything else is loud and vulgar, brash and irritating.

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    5. Amen to that. RIP American television. Even the European re-runs beats the best of them.

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  3. I haven't seen it, truthfully I've only seen a handful of episodes of the original series. I just don't see how there could possibly be stories left to tell for these characters after six seasons of the original show, two feature films, and a prequel series. This isn't Marvel or Disney where you can continuously push the envelope of possibility. There are only so many original stories to tell about rich people in the city, and even fewer genuinely interesting ones.

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  4. I was a more than occasional observer of the original series because my spouse really enjoyed it. It was fun, and it was in some ways a cultural homage to New York at the time. i have not seen the movies or the recent reboot. Try 'Girls,' if you haven't already. It felt more edgy and authentic to me, even if it was a few generations younger than i.

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  5. Was that the show about three hookers and their mom?

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    1. Oh goodness, I guffawed so loudly I woke the cats!

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    2. Almost as witty as when Brian said it on FAMILY GUY!

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  6. Very few reboots ever reach the popularity of the original program. I enjoyed the original SITC but a couple of trusted friends have already seen the 2 released episodes of the new reboot and have panned it. So . . .

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  7. I enjoyed the original series, having lived in New York City in my 30s and having lived a smidgen of their madcap adventures, and may watch the new series with some trepidation when it makes its way to Europe eventually. I enjoy the "Emily in Paris" series and so I may like AJLT, so I reserve judgment.

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  8. I thought about watching it but figured it would be too much cultural whiplash after watching Valhalla Murders and a bunch of other "Nordic Noir" programming on Netflix.

    If you really want to watch a show about s-e-x, the city, and other shenanigans I highly recommend the clever & entertaining Only Murders in the Building on Hulu. Steve Martin's wardrobe fits the vibe here very well.

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  9. VULGAR appeals to many. 74 MILLION people voted for a far more important show than this
    Definitions from Oxford Languages
    /ˈvəlɡər/

    lacking sophistication or good taste; unrefined.
    "the vulgar trappings of wealth"

    Similar:
    tastelessw
    gross
    crass
    unrefined
    tawdry
    ostentatious
    flamboyant
    overdone
    showy
    flashy
    gaudy
    garish
    brassy
    kitsch
    flaunting
    glaring
    brash
    loud
    harsh
    flash
    tacky
    over the top
    glitzy
    swanky
    impolite
    ill-mannered
    unmannerly
    indecorous
    unseemly
    ill-bred
    boorish
    low
    low-minded
    uncouth
    crude
    rough
    uncultured
    uncultivated
    unsophisticated


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  10. Girls, HBO
    Emily in Paris
    Only Murders in the Building, Hulu
    Valhalla Murders, Netflix

    Thanks for recommendations! Any others would be greatly appreciated!

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    1. Even though it does not follow the books, I greatly enjoyed Longmire. Right now we are enjoying Anne with an E.

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    2. Oh....Anne with an E is lovely.

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  11. Lots of drama and content uninspiring. Not a fan.

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  12. Checked out the trailer on Youtube, and Only Murders in the Building is on our list for Christmas Week viewing. It looks like fun.

    Kind Regards.

    Heinz-Ulrich

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  13. I was a big fan of the original SATC, but looking at some of the episodes now, I can't think why that was. Perhaps, like the characters in AJLT, we are all older and have moved on and I can't say I have any interest in watching the new series.

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  14. I started watching "Anne with E" on Netflix. It's much better than I thought it would be. It definitely has a "Little House on the Prairie" vibe. But Anne has a genuine freak flag that she cannot help but fly. It's a good mix of beautiful sets, good acting (especially Amybeth McNulty — where did the find her?) and good story. It's wholesome, yet very salty.

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